Two dead: Second double fatality on SH1 in four days
Two men are dead and two others were injured after a head-on crash north of Christchurch.
It is the second double fatal crash near the city in less than a week.
Police said a southbound stationwagon and a northbound ute towing a trailer collided on State Highway 1 near Pa Rd south of Woodend about 3.45pm yesterday.
The two men in the stationwagon, who were from Canterbury and believed to be aged in their 30s, died. The two men in the ute were flown in a rescue helicopter to Christchurch Hospital with moderate injuries.
Both vehicles were ‘‘extensively’’ damaged, police said. One of the vehicles caught fire after the crash, but a bystander put it out.
Canterbury rural area commander Inspector Peter Cooper said the stationwagon had crossed the centre line and crashed head-on into the ute.
‘‘We don’t know why yet. It’s a dead straight piece of road,’’ Cooper said.
He urged people to ‘‘take your time and stay on the correct side of the road so tragedies like this don’t occur’’.
The Serious Crash Unit was investigating. SH1 was closed until relatively late last night. Diversions were in place.
Police would not release the names of the men who died until next of kin were contacted.
Ong See Yee, 29, and her husband, Chin Tze Hau, 38, both technology executives from Singapore, were killed when their Jucy rental van crossed the centre line and collided with a ute on State Highway 1 near Dunsandel about 40 kilometres southwest of Christchurch on Thursday. The driver of the ute was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Yee and Hau were believed to have arrived in New Zealand that morning. Police were investigating whether fatigue or driver inattention had been causes of the crash.
‘‘If you’ve recently arrived in the country, perhaps sleep is the priority before driving, if that’s the case – and I’m not pre-empting anything – and being familiar with our road rules,’’ Senior Sergeant Pete Stills said.
Yee and Hau were both reportedly employees of audiovisual company Creston Singapore. Creston Asia-Pacific told The
Strait Times the pair’s colleagues were ‘‘devastated’’ by their deaths.
‘‘They made a wonderful contribution to our company and were well loved and respected throughout the audiovisual industry.’’
‘‘We don’t know why [the head-on crashed took place] yet. It’s a dead straight piece of road.’’ Police Inspector Peter Cooper